An Energy and Natural Resources Court for Scotland?
| Pages | 419-424 |
| Author | |
| DOI | 10.3366/elr.2015.0306 |
| Date | 01 September 2015 |
| Published date | 01 September 2015 |
Lord President Gill addressed the Holyrood Digital Justice Conference on 28 January 2015.
The Lord President's speech is available to download from
See e.g. Lord Irvine of Lairg, “The law: an engine for trade” (2001) 64 MLR 333.
See Lord Gill (n 1) at 11.
Our legal system should be a driver for economic progress in Scotland. Our courts and our judges can and should contribute to the prosperity of our country. We can do that if, by the excellence of our judges, and our legal profession and the efficiency of our courts, we make Scotland a forum of litigation that not only retains litigants that at present go elsewhere but also becomes a forum of choice for litigations from abroad.
Lord Gill noted with sadness that Scottish judges and lawyers of the 1960s and 1970s were not alert to the opportunity that Scotland could be an international forum for resolving disputes in the oil and gas industry. He was keen to ensure that no similar mistake was made in relation to renewables or other natural resources. He applauded Lord Penrose's success in creating a well-regarded specialist Commercial Court; in announcing the feasibility study, he stated that he wished to build upon that achievement. Finally, “in keeping with [the] view that courts must serve the litigant” ,
Ibid at 12.
he proposed that if such a court should be established, it should sit outside of Edinburgh if the need aroseSo far as the failure to capture oil industry business is concerned, Lord Gill may have directed his criticism towards the wrong generation of Scots judges and lawyers. In the early days of the industry it was not unusual for drilling or oilfield service contracts to be written under Scots law.
Oil and gas companies generally conduct exploration and production activities under the aegis of unincorporated joint ventures constituted and governed by Joint Operating Agreements (“JOA”). In the UK continental shelf these documents are now invariably written under English law. I am not aware of any early JOAs having been written under Scots law, although I have not researched this in detail.
A number of such contracts were litigated in the Scottish courts and the Scottish judges generally acquitted themselves well in dealing with these cases. InSimilarly sound judgment was exercised by the Inner...
To continue reading
Request your trial